Gersh Photo Post | Max Gersh | Multimedia Photojournalist

For me, film represents everything I love about photography. Don’t get me wrong. Digital sensors have completely revolutionized photography - especially photojournalism.

But where would we be today without digital? Film photography is more that an art form. It is a science. It takes knowledge to be a professional. Today, anyone with a load of cash can buy the latest and greatest gear. There is no need to worry about messing up. If a picture turns out poorly, it can be erased. All you need to do is check your local CraigsList postings to see how many “professionals” there are now.

Generally speaking, it takes an antiquated professional to know what I am talking about when I say “reciprocity failure” or if I mention the Scheimpflug principle. Many folks don’t know the difference between a zoom lens and a telephoto lens. Thought and creativity has vastly left photography for many shooters.

After getting my Hasselblad recently, I decided to go through some of my film from the past. I scanned a few 4×5 positives that I shot a few years ago on a Sinar large format camera.

A Lego man shot super macro to fill a sheet of 4x5 film. ©2010 Max Gersh

I remember the challenge I had to make this photo. On a large format camera, to focus, you extend the bellows between the lens and the film. To achieve this close of a focus, my bellows were over four feet long and the entire camera rig was supported by three tripods. Remember, this image filled a 4×5 inch sheet of film. This is MANY times greater than life size.

Once I acquired focus, the lighting was another challenge. I had to fire off my strobes about 15 times to build up enough light.

Misc. China things shot on a Sinar 4x5 camera representing the Scheimpflug principle. ©2010 Max Gersh

This picture may seem somewhat bland on its face, but it showcases the Scheimpflug principle - a way of focusing on a plane rather than by distance.

This picture also is gearing me up for one of my hopes of 2010 - to visit Shanghai, China for the World Expo. I’d love to be sent there on assignment but I might settle for a personal visit. Shanghai is truly one of the greatest cities I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting.

So, in summary, my goals for 2010 are:

1. Visit China again
2. Shoot more film

Two things. I should be able to handle that.

My challenge to the rest of the world - take time taking pictures. Think about what you’re doing. Try something different. Slow down and make nice images. The rest of the world will appreciate it.

If you read my last post, you know that I was testing out a 1976 Hasselblad 500 C/M.

The results are in.

Photos shot on a 1976 Hasselblad 500 C/M at the Sayersbrook Bison Ranch in Potosi, MO. ©2009 Max Gersh

Photos shot on a 1976 Hasselblad 500 C/M at the Sayersbrook Bison Ranch in Potosi, MO. ©2009 Max Gersh

Photos shot on a 1976 Hasselblad 500 C/M at the Sayersbrook Bison Ranch in Potosi, MO. ©2009 Max Gersh

Photos shot on a 1976 Hasselblad 500 C/M at the Sayersbrook Bison Ranch in Potosi, MO. ©2009 Max Gersh

Photos shot on a 1976 Hasselblad 500 C/M at the Sayersbrook Bison Ranch in Potosi, MO. ©2009 Max Gersh

Not too shabby. This is looking more and more like it might be the next camera added to my collection.

I shot one roll of 120 Kodak TMAX 100. The only problem was that I was running that through a Hasselblad A24 back , designed for 220 film. It seems like the first few frames didn’t wind fully and overlapped. Afterward, it was fine.

I’m excited to get this camera and push it to its limits. Hasselblads are rugged imaging devices. They’ve been to the Moon and I think I can find a way to put this one under just as much stress as space travel. I look forward to posting more images from this camera.

I shoot a ton of pictures on my Canon digital system. I have probably shot over one million frames in the last eight years. As much as I love digital photography, it is hard to beat the look of black and white film.

The texture. The latitude. No instant results. It makes you appreciate the roots of photography as well as where technology has taken the medium.

I haven’t shot 35mm film for a while. I have a cheapo Chinese Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) called a Mudan. It shoots on 120 film. However, letting go of a camera that is not on a strap is never a good thing. Bye bye ground glass.

I’ve been keeping my eyes out for a Hasselblad - the supreme camera for shooting 120 film (medium format). I found a used one that I took out for a test drive yesterday.

It is a 1976 Hasselblad 500 C/M. On the front, I was shooting through a Carl Zeiss 60mm f/4 Distagon lens. Inscribed on the lens mount, it says “MADE IN GERMANY WEST FOR HASSELBLAD.” This camera and lens is a piece of history that will keep on recording.

I took a road trip down to Potosi, MO to visit the Sayersbrook Bison Ranch. I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to run a roll of film through it. I fired off twelve frames of Kodak TMAX 100 and I can’t wait to see the results.

A Hasselblad 500 C/M set up on a tripod overlooking a stream in Potosi, MO. ©2009 Max Gersh

Trying to replicate the image I was about to make on a Hasselblad 500 C/M in Potosi, MO at the Sayersbrook Bison Ranch. ©2009 Max Gersh

Looking down at the ground glass of a 1976 Hasselblad 500 C/M at a stream in Potosi, MO. ©2009 Max Gersh

It’s not too often that I go wandering through cemeteries. They always give me a creepy vibe. I can’t help but notice the fresh dirt and wonder if something just went in or just came out.

Earlier this week, my girlfriend (who doesn’t quite have an obsession with cemeteries) asked me to go with her to Miles Mausoleum (apparently known as one of the most haunted spots in Illinois, but I will get to that later). She actually found it by mistake a few months ago. She was driving around Columbia, Ill. looking for photo ops when she saw it on top of a bluff.

It is about a 30-45 minute drive from our house. After getting off of the interstate, you wind down a long road until there is nothing but farmland and a few hills. Then you turn off the main road and go up one of those hills. Eventually you turn down what looks like a gravel driveway. At the end of the drive, you pass through two wooden posts that serve as entry gates to the cometary.

As you enter the cemetery, there is a sign that gives a brief history:

Eagle Cliff / Miles Cemetery
Eagle cliff graveyard was established as a public graveyard on land donated by Truman Miles

The first person to be buried in Eagle Cliff Graveyard was Rachel Bond, wife of Judge Shadrach Bond, Sr. on March 17, 1806.

The vault was built for Stephen W. Miles, in 1858, by Major Yrasillon for the sum of $25,000.

The most recent burial was Charles Louer in 1978.

The cemetery is restored and maintained by, Eagle Cliff / Miles Cemetery, Inc. founded in 1994.

The first thing I noticed as I was walking around was the age and condition of the tombstones. First off, they were somewhat scattered everywhere. Some of them had been severely vandalized. Others were just rocks serving as grave markers.

The next thing that caught my eye were the military tombstones. Most of them had been replaced by the state with newer stones. There are soldiers buried here from the Revolutionary War, The War of 1812 and The Civil War. There could be others but not all the graves are accounted for.

After wandering through the graveyard, we finally got to the bluff where the mausoleum is buried into the land. My girlfriend told me that it had become a popular spot for teenagers to get drunk at all hours of the day so we weren’t sure what we would find. Fortunately there was no one hiding in the crypts but the amount of graffiti was disturbing.

Okay. So why is this place haunted. The legend goes that the brush grew so thick on this bluff that the cemetery and mausoleum were forgotten for many years. In the 1960’s, it was rediscovered and people looted the tomb (only 11 of 56 total vaults were ever used). The bodies were found scattered all over the place. Shortly there after, a cult took the remaining bodies outside of the mausoleum and lit them on fire trying to raise them from the dead.

Is this true? I have no idea. I got the information from this guy. I think he got it from The Daily Egyptian, the student paper for Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, who wrote this article about the cemetery in 2002. It makes a great story though.

And so the legend lives on.

From the moment we landed in Grand Junction, Colorado, all I could say was “wow!” Every direction I looked, there were mountains. I took out Katie’s Panasonic Lumix and started shooting as we left the plane and walked to the terminal.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ8 — ISO 100 @ f/4 and 1/200 sec — A man puts on his jacket after getting off a Frontier prop plane in Grand Junction, Colorado.

I knew this was going to be a great trip.

It takes about 30 minutes to get from the airport to the house we were staying at in Mack, Colorado. We were out in the desert and only six miles from the Utah border. As we got to the house, sun was setting and they were starting to feed the horses. I figured I’d waste no time and start photographing ASAP.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 24mm ISO 800 @ f/2.8 and 1/500 sec — Horses walk around the enclosure at sunset in Mack, Colorado.

After feeding ourselves, it was time to light the bonfire. I’ve always lived in cities and suburbs so I had never experienced a private bonfire. Living on seven acres in the desert gives you all the privacy and independence you might want and need. Again, I grabbed my camera and tried to do a wide shot of the fire. This was my first test for my TC-80N3 cable release.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 24mm ISO 100 @ f/2.8 and 13 sec — A bonfire lights up the surroundings in the Colorado desert.

Day 2

I really shouldn’t have been this excited but when I saw my first tumbleweed, I nearly screamed! I reacted to memorialize this moment in the parking lot of the Plum Creek Winery in Palisade, Colorado.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 70mm ISO 100 @ f/5.6 and 1/500 sec — My first encounter with a tumbleweed.

After visiting a few wineries, we drove up into the Colorado National Monument. It was absolutely breathtaking. I got out of the car at some points and did short hikes along the cliff sides.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 24mm ISO 100 @ f/8 and 1/500 sec — A section of the Colorado National Mounument.

Day 3

Off to Utah. We took off in our early 80’s Ford van and headed for Moab, Utah. We stopped in the middle of the desert at a place known as Fisher Towers. While the towers weren’t that impressive, our huge van dwarfed by the expansive desert was.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 70mm ISO 100 @ f/8 and 1/400 sec — Our blue van is dwarfed by the expansive desert.

After making a short pit stop in Moab, we headed to Arches National Park. On the way in, we stopped at many of the roadside pull-offs to take more photos.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 24mm ISO 100 @ f/5.6 and 1/250 sec — The roadway carves through the landscape at Arches National Park just outside of Moab, Utah.

Eventually, we actually made it to part of the park with natural land arches. Katie and I took off on a hike to get close to the arches.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 24mm ISO 100 @ f/5.6 and 1/1000 sec — An arch in Arches National Park.

After hiking for what was probably close to half an hour, we found a sign that said “Primitive trail back to parking lot.” Ok. Sounds good. The only problem was that the trail disappeared. We were walking on the backside of these arches with no visible trail. We practiced how we would defend ourselves from mountain lions, just in case. Eventually, we found a sign pointing us in the right direction.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 24mm ISO 100 @ f/5.6 and 1/640 sec —After being lost along the "primitive trail" at Arches National Park, we found a sign that pointed us up a rock face to continue along to the parking lot.

After stopping at a few more places in Arches National Park, we drove up the road to Dead Horse Point. The area got its name when starving horses jumped off of the cliff to drink out of the Colorado river below. The drop is probably around 1,000 feet.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 24mm ISO 100 @ f/2.8 and 1/500 sec — A view from Dead Horse Point.

Day 4

Believe it or not, I didn’t take any photos on day 4 of our trip. We all slept in a bit and took our time getting ready. In the early afternoon, we took three horses out for a ride. Of course I brought my camera. I put it in a padded bag that attaches to the saddle horn. We rode in the Colorado National Monument at a place called Devil’s Canyon. Being that this was my first time doing trail riding on a horse let alone one of the only times I’ve ever been on a horse, I never did feel comfortable enough to take my camera out, especially since we were running up and down hills, climbing rocks and crossing streams. It was tremendously fun. It was very beautiful as well. Katie’s aunt took a picture of us with Katie’s camera.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ8 — ISO 100 @ f/4.5 and 1/400 sec — Katie and I on our horses at the top of Devil's Canyon in the Colorado National Mounment. The famous "mushroom rock" is between us in the background.

Day 5

We left Mack and headed into the mountains towards the town of Ouray. It is pronounced yur-ay.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 24mm ISO 100 @ f/5.6 and 1/400 sec — Ouray is nestled in the San Juan range of the Rocky Mountains.

Ouray is known for its ice climbing and its hot springs. We went to Orvis hot springs. It was beautiful and relaxing. Unfortunately I can’t show you. It is a clothing optional hot spring and no cameras were allowed in. For the record, I opted to leave my swimming trunks on.

Day 6

On our final day, we headed up to Mesa Lakes to do some snowshoeing. Again, we drove up into the mountains. The lodge where we rented our snowshoes from was at just under 10,000 feet in elevation. Once we got going, we estimated that the snow was a minimum of five feet deep in some areas. You would not want to sink in. At one point, we came to a bridge we had to cross. It had a foot and a half of snow on top with a very narrow flat surface. Katie and her aunt crawled across while her uncle and I braved walking across…very slowly and very carefully.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 24mm ISO 100 @ f/8 and 1/640 sec — Katie's aunt crawls across the snow covered brige at Mesa Lakes while snowshoeing.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 24mm ISO 100 @ f/8 and 1/400 sec — Katie crawls across the snow covered bridge while snowshoeing around Mesa Lakes.

The trail winding through the trees was very beautiful.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 24mm ISO 100 @ f/8 and 1/500 sec — Trees along the snowshoe trail at Mesa Lakes.

After we finished a loop of one lake, I continued on alone for another twenty minutes or so because I was having so much fun. I decided to take a self portrait in front of one of the snow-covered lakes.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 15mm ISO 100 @ f/8 and 1/800 sec — I stopped for a self portrait in front of a snow covered lake while snowshoeing at Mesa Lakes.

Day 7

That was all she wrote. The next morning, we headed back to the Grand Junction airport — an airport so small it only has six gates. Oddly enough, I couldn’t remember which gate the lady and the check-in counter said we needed to be at for our flight to Denver. When I saw this sign, I guessed we were at the right one.

Panasonic Lumix DCS-LZ8 — ISO 800 @ f/5.8 and 1/60 sec — A sign at the Grand Juction airport indicated that flights from this gate were headed for Denver.

I loved every part of this trip. In fact, I would love to live near Grand Junction. The outdoorsman and adventurer inside me would be busy all of the time. I definitely think another trip is in order to see more of the beautiful scenery and do more of the outdoor activities that appeal to the mountain man inside.